LIVERPOOL, England -- Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has said Hugo Ekitike's red card against Southampton was "needless and stupid," with the striker now suspended for this weekend's clash with Crystal Palace.
Ekitike came off the bench to score the winning goal in Liverpool's 2-1 Carabao Cub victory at Anfield but was shown a second yellow card for taking off his shirt during the celebrations.
The 23-year-old had already been booked for dissent and, as a result, will miss Saturday's trip to Selhurst Park.
- Isak scores, Ekitike gets red after Liverpool winner
- Ogden: Liverpool will have to be patient to see the best of Wirtz
- Maresca: Might be 'impossible' to stop Liverpool
"It was needless and stupid," Slot said in his post-match news conference. "The first one was already needless and to a certain extent stupid because you have to control your emotions.
"I know how hard it is when you are a No. 9 when the defender can to a certain extent do anything he likes. It's always the best to control your emotions. If you can't, do it in a way that doesn't lead to a yellow card.
"I told him that if you score in the Champions League final in the 87th minute after outplaying three players and hitting it in the top corner, I can maybe understand he is like: 'This is all about me, what did I do.' But I am old-fashioned, I'm 47 and old.
"I never played at this level but did score a few goals and if I scored a goal like this, I'd have turned around and walked up to Federico Chiesa and said: 'This goal is all about you, this is not about me.' Needless, not smart, you call it stupid, I called it stupid right away as well."
Liverpool were also dealt a blow when defender Giovanni Leoni sustained an injury late in the second half. The 18-year-old joined the club from Parma in the summer and impressed on his debut against the Saints.
"He is down because, for him, it didn't feel good immediately," Slot said. "This is something we have to assess. Normally these things don't happen in five to 10 minutes. You have to wait until tomorrow to see how he comes in and maybe do an MRI scan to know more and see how serious it is.
"Normally, the emotions of a player tell you a lot. I saw during the weekend in the Eredivisie that a player went out completely in tears. It proved to be he was right. Let's hope for the best."
Alexander Isak had opened the scoring on Tuesday with his first goal for his new club as Liverpool progressed to the fourth round.